Bronchial carcinoid tumour occluding the basal right lower lobe bronchus
Bronchial carcinoid tumours are rare neuroendocrine tumours. They account for 1% to 2% of all lung tumours. They are typically a slow-growing neoplasm with varying behaviour, however, they can grow rapidly and overall be much more aggressive. They are subclassified into typical and atypical carcinoid tumours.
High suspicion of diagnosis is needed to identify these tumours, which often leads to delayed diagnosis. 35% of patients will present with either productive or nonproductive cough. Others may present with wheezing, which is often misdiagnosed as asthma and has a prolonged treatment course without improvement. Approximately 25 to 50% of patients will report hemoptysis, while 40% will report a history of chest pain or evidence of bronchial obstruction, such as recurrent lung infections.
Complete surgical resection is the treatment of choice for bronchial carcinoids and usually confers a good prognosis, particularly in typical carcinoids.
Here we present a case of a 76 year old lady with a bronchial carcinoid tumour obstructing the common basal bronchus of the right lower lobe. She had a history of pleuro-pericarditis, and recurrent lung infections causing widespread pleural adhesions.
She made an uncomplicated recovery and was discharged from hospital 3 days postoperatively.
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